Redden told the Sun he doesn’t want to waive his “no trade” clause, would like to return to Ottawa next season and is willing to talk about a contract extension with GM Bryan Murray.
“Obviously, I have to speak with Bryan and find out where he’s at because he just took over,” said Redden yesterday. “But I’m sure (agent Don Meehan), myself and Bryan will be speaking over the course of the next little while.
“I know I’m an unrestricted free agent next summer, but I definitely want to be back there. I don’t want to go anywhere. I’m really excited about being (in Ottawa), especially after the year we had.”

League sources say Tampa GM Jay Feaster might be willing to offer centre Brad Richards and his $7.8-million salary (all terms US) for each of the next four years to the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers and Phoenix Coyotes.
Those teams hold the first three picks in the draft, to be held at Nationwide Arena.
The 27-year-old Richards is one of Tampa’s top forwards with 25 goals and 45 assists for 70 points in 82 games last season.
But he could be expendable after the Bolts acquired centre Chris Gratton from the Florida Panthers last week and Feaster needs to clear some salary to find a way to bring in a goaltender.

“I want to play for the Rangers. I don’t want to go on the open market. I’ve told my agent [Rick Curran] to talk to Glen Sather and try to get a deal done. I don’t want to leave, and if they’re not interested in having me back, it will be a complete shock.”
“I don’t want to discuss what I would or wouldn’t do in the contract,” said Shanahan, whose agent is expected to speak with Sather here before tomorrow night’s Entry Draft. “I’ve never negotiated in the papers. But there aren’t going to be any silly games. It’s not a traditional negotiation where I’m looking for leverage, let’s put it that way. My feeling is that pretty much anything they propose that will help the Rangers be better, I’ll be all ears.”

more and once again, the idiotic rumor of Shanny returning to Detroit is shot down…

Red Wings general manager Ken Holland has a full lineup of player agent meetings scheduled over the next few days in an attempt to lock up most of his free agents before the market opens.
One player who will not be asked back, though, is center Robert Lang.
“I’ve contacted Petr Svoboda, and told him we will not be offering a contract to Robert Lang,” Holland said today.

“Currently there isn’t a fully completed application before the board of governors,” Bettman said. “As a result I think people are getting a little bit ahead of themselves on this entire issue.
“It isn’t in any shape or form close to being ready for consideration as it relates to approval of an ownership change. I’m not exactly sure why people are focused on the Nashville Predators being anywhere other than in Nashville at this particular point in time.”
The board isn’t scheduled to meet again until the fall, so any deal likely won’t be approved before next season. The agreement between Leipold and Balsillie carried a June 30 deadline for completion, but that could be extended.

Though expansion was not on the formal agenda, Tim Leiweke, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which will manage the $276 million arena scheduled to open in October, said at least a dozen team executives inquired about the market in the event the NHL expands in the next year or two.
“It’s the highest level of attention I’ve ever seen,” said Leiweke, who is governor of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and member of the league’s expansion committee.
“There are two or three prominent people within the league who have asked to come look at the arena. They want to see the building, they’ve heard rave reviews about it, and they want to get comfortable with the marketplace, because they’re not convinced the marketplace works….”

The National Hockey League’s Board of Governors today elected Jeremy Jacobs of the Boston Bruins as its chairman. Mr. Jacobs replaces Harley Hotchkiss of the Calgary Flames, who had served six consecutive two-year terms.
The Board also elected a Vice-Chair, voting Tom Hicks of the Dallas Stars to the position.

The board was also updated on the pending sale of the Nashville Predators to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie.
However, there will not be an actual vote on the transfer of ownership from Craig Leipold.
The board also rubber-stamped some minor rule changes and discussed next year’s salary cap, which is expected to fall between $48 and $50 million.

added 6:28pm, The minor rule changes…

All face-offs must be conducted at one of the nine face-off dots painted on the rink. Previously, there had been instances, such as when a puck left the playing surface, which caused the face-off to occur on unmarked ice, parallel to the dot nearest the place where the puck departed.

Referees were given discretion to assess a major penalty and a game misconduct when an injury results from an act of interference. Previously, only a minor penalty could be assessed for interference.

A player may be awarded a penalty shot if he is fouled on a clear breakaway outside his defensive zone (i.e., anywhere in the neutral zone or in the attacking zone). Previously, a penalty shot was awarded only when the player on a clear breakaway was fouled on the attacking side of the center line.

The term “Gross Misconduct” was eliminated from the rule book. Any act that would have been assessed a Gross Misconduct penalty will receive a Game Misconduct penalty. Accumulated Game Misconduct penalties can lead to fines or suspension.

“I haven’t spoken to anyone in the Leafs’ organization since the end of the regular season,” Mc-Cabe said from Long Island, N.Y. “I have absolutely no inkling that they would ask me to waive my no-trade clause. All of my [postseason] meetings with the club were positive; there was no indication that anyone on the team is unhappy with me….
Some believe the McCabes would waive the no-movement clause if the defenceman was to end up with the New York Islanders, as Roberta is from Long Island and the family spends its summers there.
“Oh, there’s nothing to that at all,” McCabe said. “Lots of husbands go to live where their wives are from in the off-season, just like the wives move to live where we play during the winter.”

more.. so all the folks who have emailed me about this when the damn rumor was started, just relax like I told you too…

On Friday and Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, the first-guessers (scouts and GMs) will complete more than a year of hard work. They won’t have the luxury of hindsight when making their selections.
With the Blackhawks on the clock, we second-guessers figured it would be a good time to look back at some of the best and worst selections in draft history.
Five best value picks (active players)
• Nicklas Lidstrom, D, Detroit, 1989 (53rd overall): In 1989, teams still were weary about European players. In that regard, Detroit’s management was on the cutting edge.

Center Derek Roy was one of five players retained by the Buffalo Sabres after they were issued qualifying offers.
The moves, announced Wednesday, marked the first step by the Sabres to re-sign their restricted free agents. Players have the right to accept the one-year offers or negotiate new deals.
Also issued offers were forwards Daniel Paille, Andrew Peters and defenseman Nathan Paetsch.

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